Rod B. & Alvaro Garfunk bring you the Miami Underground Movement

F.SONIK   The name of F.Sonik continuously pops up on the wish lists of electronic music aficionados in the region. Launching career with the Ghettotek live-act, later joining SDJF initiative and Flow Management, he already established himself as an unique deejay who is not afraid of such challenges as combining Slovenia's landmark techno heritage with some progressive spices. He already transferred some of this who-dares-wins spirit in his own productions, Something New (ft. Tomy DeClerque) being the most successful so far. This track, which immediately gained support of Umek and was already played on BBC Radio 1, predicts the series of fresh releases in 2008. So you better watch out for this guy! Aleš Furlan alias F.Sonik became involved in electronic dance culture on account of one very innocent occurrence in his youth. And it’s a sole fault of his brother that he ended taming the decks, mixers and effects night after night. “It all started when he brought home some studio mixer and Akai sampler,” remembers F.Sonik “Just a few days later I knew I wanted to produce electronic and become a deejay and I was hooked ever since. I started gathering information about the scene, artists, clubs, music and the whole electronic movement. Living on the Slovenian Riviera it was natural to be influenced by Ambasada Gavioli club as I started attending Valentino Kanzyani’s matinees and performances of leading electronic artists on the regular basis.” It was his friend Alessio who helped him with the first steps: "He was caught by this bug well before me, so he already learned to mix and could thought me a thing or two. I still remember how I use to hang out at his parents house everyday struggling to beat-match the records. And after I started performing he even lent me his records." Shortly after that they teamed up for the live performances. "We've named ourselves Ghettotek. Alessio was mixing the records and I was in charge of putting in some effects. This way I got to perform in most of the hip Slovenian clubs even before my solo career really took off."

Thriving on a strong and globally accomplished techno heritage Slovenian electronic scene is still heavily directed by techno. But being influenced by the Global Underground music philosophy F.Sonik dared to go where only a few artists in the region dared before him – he decided he will combine the techno heritage with melodic progressive sounds: "Even Umek was there somewhere, but as he was pure techno deejay back then and I was more into progressive stuff, it were the likes of Sasha, Deep Dish and Steve Lawler that have inspired me the most," admits the young artist.

F.Sonik successfully transferred his unique vision of dance music, built on techno and blended with some emotionally rich proggy landscapes, into his own tunes. As a producer he gained the most attention with the track titled Something New, which he produced in collaboration with his musical guru Tomy DeClerque. “We’ve connected really good in the studio, so it was a really good feeling when Umek supported our first track including it in his Essential Mix even before it was officially released. That really inspired us and we already work on a bunch of new tracks,” announces F.Sonik...F.SONIK

The name of F.Sonik continuously pops up on the wish lists of electronic music aficionados in the region. Launching career with the Ghettotek live-act, later joining SDJF initiative and Flow Management, he already established himself as an unique deejay who is not afraid of such challenges as combining Slovenia's landmark techno heritage with some progressive spices. He already transferred some of this who-dares-wins spirit in his own productions, Something New (ft. Tomy DeClerque) being the most successful so far. This track, which immediately gained support of Umek and was already played on BBC Radio 1, predicts the series of fresh releases in 2008. So you better watch out for this guy

Aleš Furlan alias F.Sonik became involved in electronic dance culture on account of one very innocent occurrence in his youth. And it’s a sole fault of his brother that he ended taming the decks, mixers and effects night after night. “It all started when he brought home some studio mixer and Akai sampler,” remembers F.Sonik “Just a few days later I knew I wanted to produce electronic and become a deejay and I was hooked ever since. I started gathering information about the scene, artists, clubs, music and the whole electronic movement. Living on the Slovenian Riviera it was natural to be influenced by Ambasada Gavioli club as I started attending Valentino Kanzyani’s matinees and performances of leading electronic artists on the regular basis.”

It was his friend Alessio who helped him with the first steps: "He was caught by this bug well before me, so he already learned to mix and could thought me a thing or two. I still remember how I use to hang out at his parents house everyday struggling to beat-match the records. And after I started performing he even lent me his records." Shortly after that they teamed up for the live performances. "We've named ourselves Ghettotek. Alessio was mixing the records and I was in charge of putting in some effects. This way I got to perform in most of the hip Slovenian clubs even before my solo career really took off."

Thriving on a strong and globally accomplished techno heritage Slovenian electronic scene is still heavily directed by techno. But being influenced by the Global Underground music philosophy F.Sonik dared to go where only a few artists in the region dared before him – he decided he will combine the techno heritage with melodic progressive sounds: "Even Umek was there somewhere, but as he was pure techno deejay back then and I was more into progressive stuff, it were the likes of Sasha, Deep Dish and Steve Lawler that have inspired me the most," admits the young artist.

F.Sonik successfully transferred his unique vision of dance music, built on techno and blended with some emotionally rich proggy landscapes, into his own tunes. As a producer he gained the most attention with the track titled Something New, which he produced in collaboration with his musical guru Tomy DeClerque. “We’ve connected really good in the studio, so it was a really good feeling when Umek supported our first track including it in his Essential Mix even before it was officially released. That really inspired us and we already work on a bunch of new tracks,” announces F.Sonik...

Rod B. & Alvaro Garfunk bring you the Miami Underground Movement

BIOGRAPHY

Manuel De La Mare Producer, DJ and A&R, also knowed as Sara Galli, After Tea and Combo his alterego project.
With over then 50 releases ranging from techno to house, he is supported, playlisted and charted by many djs around the globe: Roger Sanchez, Tiesto, Ferry Corsten, Funkagenda, Mark Knight, Pete Tong, Hernan Cattaneo, John Acquaviva, Joe T. Vannelli, Robbie Rivera, Renè Amesz, Kobbe, Ripperton, Jean Claude Ades, Anthony Pappa, Joeski, Milton Jackson, Jorge Jaramillo (Who Da Funk), Gel Abril, Yousef, Inpetto, Thomas Gold, Tom Novy, Justice and more.

In 2008 he gained 11 beatport top ten in 4 different genres to confirm his eclectic style (ian round - "dancin" manuel de la mare mash plus manuel de la mare d-mash, both rmx in beatport house top ten; sylar - "mellow" sara galli rmx , beatport techno top ten; alex kenji - "ytaca" manuel de la mare rmx and ceeryl - "high flyer" manuel de la mare rmx both in beatport progressive top ten , after tea aka manuel de la mare - "my prerogatives", "okeechobee", "this is warming up" and remix of "lombardi vs Neuroxyde - exagon", in beatport deep house top ten; sara galli and matteo matteini - "confident" featured in beatport deep house top ten).
Including the huge success of his underworld's "born slippy" official cover (2nd in overall beatport chart and 1st in progressive house).

He is the co-owner of 303Lovers and Hotfingers Music Labels with Alex Kenji and Marshall and since their launch (August 2007) they have sold more than 50000 units in digital stores; he collaborates also with indipendent and major labels: Baroque, Toolroom, Eye Industries, Omnis, Sound4Group, Universal, Blanco y Negro, ClubStar, Ministry of Sound, Anjunabeats, Warner Chapell.

Special Thanks  to Manu & Stéphanie Lazzereschi

Rod B. & Alvaro Garfunk bring you the Miami Underground Movement

DJ UMEK

Uroš Umek is internationally acclaimed music producer from Slovenia, seducing the masses with his own music blend for more than a decade. Always on the look for new sounds and determined to challenge every existing cliché in music industry, he managed to define his own vision of vanguard techno. Sure, this would not happen without the support of his loyal peers who’ve joined him on the production platforms such as Recycled Loops, Consumer Recreation and Astrodisco, with which they defined “Slovenian techno sound and successfully invested it as an important driving force on the global club scene.

The year 2007 marked the beginning of new chapter in Umek’s music career. After spending enormous amount of time and artistic energy bringing his characteristics sound to the whole new level, he presented new international music therapy called 1605 – Sixteenofive. No doubt this was a very risky move for such an established artist as DJ Umek. But it was the only way for him to stay on top of the game. And it seems he picked up the right decision at the crucial time: the response to his new vision of electronic dance music from his peers, critics, media and most importantly his fans is great and his productions are supported by some top dogs in the industry.

Umek recent productions include highly acclaimed club releases such as Overtake & Command, Ricochet Effect, Another Matter Entirely and Faithful Nights, but it were MTV supported hit singles Posing as Me and Carbon Occasions that stirred the most media attention and crossed over to the daily radio stations. Umek’s releases were lately included on the premiere club compilations mixed by artists such as Sander Kleinenberg, Judge Jules, Eddie Halliwell, John Digweed, M.I.K.E. or Carl Cox. He was amongst the headliners of esteemed summer music festivals such as Primavera, Monegros or Dance Valley and he conquered the South America on the joint tour with Valentino Kanzyani and Marko Nastić once more. And this was only the introduction in the Umek’s year 2008, when he plans to finally present long expected new artist album and his own live band.